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Have a Burning Business Question? Ask the Expert: Ian Lurie Digital marketing expert Ian Lurie wants to answer your big startup questions about SEO, online advertising, best practices for increasing views and social media.

By Andrea Huspeni

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Project Hopeful

In today's world, if you have an online presence but you don't have a digital marketing strategy, you might as well pack it in and go home.

Yet, deciphering your best strategy for Google AdWords and search engine optimization, figuring out how analytics work and determining your brand's voice online can make your head spin.

Ian Lurie to the rescue. As a digital marketing expert with 18 years and 50,000 hours under his belt, Lurie is looking to lend a helping hand -- assisting entrepreneurs in demystifying the tangled web of online marketing.

Have a Burning Business Question Ask the Expert
CEO and founder of Portent Ian Lurie

"I truly believe that great communications can save the world." says Lurie. "If I can help other folks become better marketers and therefore better communicators, I'm all over it."

Related: 12 Must-Know Trends in Digital Marketing

As the CEO and founder of Seattle-based internet-marketing agency Portent, Lurie knows a thing or two about the digital-marketing realm. He founded the company in 1995 and leads in-house training, while also working with his team to develop new innovative tools.

His roster of clients includes Kate Spade, Advertising Age and Getty Images, among many more.

When not helping clients increase sales with their internet-marketing strategies, Lurie has kept himself busy. He has co-published Web Marketing All-In-One for Dummies and wrote Conversation Marketing: Internet Marketing Strategies.

He has also been a regular fixture at marketing conferences, including Ad::Tech, Search Engine Strategies, Search Marketing Expo and Blogword. Lurie also recently joined the board of directors of the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization.

So, with the little amount of spare time he does have, Lurie is looking forward to help aspiring entrepreneurs (like others did for him) figure out the digital-marketing conundrum.

"I had lots of fantastic mentors as I built my business. Without them, I would have failed over and over," Lurie says. "One way I can repay the help I got is to help others as they get started."

Related: 3 Annoying Social-Media Mistakes Businesses Need to Avoid

For this month only, Lurie is answering your questions on marketing issues entrepreneurs face. Feel free to ask queries about digital-marketing strategy, SEO, online branding, social media and online advertising.

Have a question for Entrepreneur's experts? Submit your questions in the comments section below or tweet us, using the hashtag #ENTexpert.

Andrea Huspeni

Founder of This Dog's Life

Andrea Huspeni is the former special projects director at Entrepreneur.com and the founder of This Dog's Life.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

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